Eritrea
Eritrea Television journalist dies in bid to fleePosted Jul 16 2007
A respected Eritrean broadcaster, Paulos Kidane, who worked for the Amharic-language service of state-owned Eri-TV and radio Dimtsi Hafash, died last month in an attempt to flee on foot across the border into Sudan.
Kidane, who suffered from epilepsy and high blood pressure, left Eritrea in the company of seven others at the beginning of June to join the dozens of journalists fleeing the government's control of the country's media.
But Kigane was not able to complete the long trek and stayed behind to rest in a remote part of northwestern Eritrea. So far it is unclear as what caused his death.
Kidane was one of nine journalists imprisoned by the Ministry of Information three months ago after authorities abruptly closed all privately owned newspapers, allegedly to safeguard national unity in the face of growing political turmoil in the tiny Horn of Africa nation.
After being released on bail a month later, the reporters were followed and their cell phones were tapped. They were forced to go back to work and were also forbidden from leaving the country.
Eritrea is the only African country that has no privately owned news media. In 2005, Committee to Protect Journalists described it as one of the world's leading jailers of journalists.